The Browes appear to have settled in Tushingham towards the end of the 13th century, and soon established themselves as a family of some consequence in the palatinate of Chester. Our Member claimed kinship with the celebrated captain, Sir Robert Grosvenor, whom he supported, in 1386, during his dispute with Lord Scrope over their respective claims to the same coat of arms. On his own evidence, Sir Hugh had by then spent more than 20 years on active service, mostly in France, where he took part in several campaigns as well as being employed on garrison duty. In 1369, for example, he and Grosvenor fought together at the siege of La Roche-sur-Yon under the banner of James, Lord Audley. The two men also served in the army which Richard II took to Scotland much later, in 1385, but they were not otherwise thrown together by the fortunes of war. Browe’s connexion with the Cheshire knight, Sir Robert Knolles, who is variously described as either his cousin or his uncle, proved far more important during these early years, since it was through Knolles, one of the leading English commanders of the 14th century, that he became involved in the struggle of John Montfort, duke of Brittany, against the French. In his capacity as lieutenant of Brittany during Montfort’s temporary absence in England, Knolles entrusted Sir Hugh ‘et ses freres’ with the custody of Derval castle, which was besieged by an enemy force under the redoubtable Bertrand du Guesclin in the summer of 1373. Sir Hugh’s decision to give hostages for the surrender of the castle should no relief force appear within 40 days was repudiated by his ruthless kinsman, whose indefensible acts of cruelty in raising the siege more than justified his reputation as ‘an old brigand’ . Although he denied having taken part in any major continental expeditions, we know that Browe was in the retinue which Edmund, earl of March, planned to take to Brittany in 1374, and that he and Knolles once again joined forces four years later when, under the command of John of Gaunt, they plundered the countryside around St. Malo, which was then under siege. Shortly afterwards they both contracted to accompany Thomas of Woodstock on another venture in support of Breton independence, and on this occasion Browe took the precaution of suing out royal letters of protection, dated June 1380, to safeguard his interests at home.
Not much is known about Browe’s more private affairs during this period, although it seems likely that some of the spoils which came his way were invested in land. In February 1376 he acquired the manor of Christleton in Cheshire from Robert Chalons, who offered other property in Halberton, Devon, as security for the transaction. He probably succeeded his father to the nearby family estates at about this time, being then involved in several conveyances of property in Bickley and Tushingham. By 1384 his widowed mother, Alice, had surrendered some of her own holdings in the area to his son, William, the child of an early and otherwise undocumented marriage, who evidently predeceased him. Two years later, Browe received letters patent exempting him from official duties in all parts of England, particularly Cheshire where he must still have been living.
It should not, however, be assumed that Browe owed his return as a shire knight for the county of Rutland solely and simply to the intervention of a powerful patron. The exact date of his marriage to Elizabeth, the daughter and heir of Sir Christopher Folville of Teigh, is not recorded, but she had probably been his wife for some years when, during the Hilary term of 1390, their title to the manor and advowson of Teigh was confirmed by John and Mabel Woodford before the justices of the common pleas. Clearly, even if Browe was not by then the actual owner of property in Rutland, he could at least claim strong local connexions predating his return to the Merciless Parliament. These were reinforced by his kinship with Sir John Calveley, his colleague in the Parliament of November 1390, who, like him, came from a Cheshire family related in some way to Sir Robert Knolles. Their respective coats of arms were prominently displayed on the latter’s tomb, and it is possible that both saw action together during the Hundred Years’ War. Calveley’s marriage to Sir Hugh’s widowed mother-in-law, Margaret Folville, brought them even closer together, and certainly strengthened their mutual links with the county of Rutland. Browe’s appointment as a j.p. there in 1389, no less than his regular appearance on royal commissions in the area, serves to illustrate the speed with which he was absorbed into county society. Over the next few years he set out to consolidate his position as a landowner, paying 200 marks for the manor of Woodhead, which he and his trustee, Sir Robert Knolles, bought together with the advowson of Casterton in the autumn of 1392 from Joan de la Warre. Two years later he settled this purchase as a jointure upon his third wife, Blanche, with a remainder to Robert, the elder of his two sons by her predecessor, Elizabeth Folville.
In April 1399, Sir Hugh was instructed to raise a force of Cheshire archers for Richard II’s expedition to Ireland, and soon afterwards he obtained permission from the King to appoint three attorneys preparatory to his own departure with the royal army. His readiness to take part in this ultimately ill-fated venture did not, however, prevent him from showing every sympathy for Henry of Bolingbroke, who, as the only surviving Appellant of 1388, could draw upon his old reserves of loyalty to the earl of Arundel. Bolingbroke was certainly anxious to enlist such an experienced and able soldier to his cause, and having deployed Browe on various commissions during the months immediately following his coronation he rewarded him in February 1400 with an annuity of £40 payable for life. This fee seems never to have been paid on time, although Browe was partly compensated for the Exchequer’s inefficiency when, eight months later, he received an award of land in Cheshire, Shropshire and Flintshire, confiscated from the rebel, Robert Pulesdon, to hold to the value of £30 a year.